Would you like your own power station? The newest energy-saving technology for homeowners can provide you with exactly that. It’s called Combined Heat and Power, or CHP for short. When Tony Blair makes green pronouncements, CHP is often hidden away in the fine detail. So far it has not enjoyed a high profile, but it is likely to play a big part in saving energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The principle is simple. At present enormous power stations burn gas or oil in huge turbines to generate electricity. The turbines also produce a great deal of heat which, unfortunately, vanishes straight up those enormous cooling towers. Beautiful industrial architecture they might be, but they waste energy. The electricity thus generated is then sent through the national grid and huge amounts are lost in transit before arriving at your kettle.
So far CHP has been used mostly in big developments — public housing schemes, hospitals, office blocks and industrial sites — but now a micro CHP unit is becoming available for homes. The “Whispergen”, being marketed by the energy company Powergen, is about the size of a dishwasher and comes in a stainless steel finish. It works for six hours a day and makes as much noise as a washing machine in rinse mode, so fitting it away from your main living areas is recommended.
Energy savings are claimed to be substantial: a three or four-bedroom home would have its bills cut by about £150 a year, Powergen says. The “Whispergen”, which Powergen is marketing, is costly, however: £3,000 for equipment and installation. Buyers have nevertheless been undeterred and the groundswell of interest has caught the company by surprise: its initial production run of 400 units has already sold out. More units will become available again late this year or early next year.
CHP is driven by a small turbine in the unit that draws upon the gas supplied to your home to produce electricity, while the heat that is simultaneously produced is used for central heating or to heat water. Think of it as a boiler that also generates electricity.
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According to the UK’s Combined Heat and Power Association, big commercial CHP installations reduce primary energy use (meaning fossil fuels burnt) by 35 per cent. And the greenhouse gas dividend is generous: the association says that they reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 30 per cent in comparison with coal-fired power stations, and more than 10 per cent in comparison with gas-fired power stations.
An early convert is Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South, who is passionate about microgeneration — CHP being the latest of a range of microgeneration technologies that also encompass solar power and wind turbines. “My train into Nottingham goes past the Radcliffe Power Station, and every time I pass it I think of the energy that is thrown away,” he says. “Microgeneration is the solution to the energy crisis.”
Simpson is creating an energy-saving home for himself and his wife, Pascale, a writer and painter. It is a converted Victorian mill in the historic Lace Market district of Nottingham and features a range of energy-saving technologies, including CHP. “I’ve been banging the microgeneration drum for years,” he says. “Then I thought, ‘This is daft, because I’m not doing any of it myself’.” Simpson will use his Whispergen in conjunction with his other gadgets to supply electricity to the national grid and he is likely to be a net energy producer. “I will generate 50 per cent more electricity than I consume, so I should never get an electricity bill again.”
Simpson is trying to introduce a Private Member’s Bill to promote microgeneration. Domestic micro CHP attracts VAT at 5 per cent rather than 17.5 per cent, but so far it is not eligible for direct grant support. Simpson wants more concessions and inducements. “I’ve become a bit of an anorak on this,” he says.
Simpson is planning another micro CHP unit for his London home. “I’m happy to be a guinea-pig,” he says. “Ask me how well my CHP has worked in six months’ time.”
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Details: www.powergen.co.uk, 0800 0686515